What’s on at Wool@J13?

12th & 13th May 2018
Penkridge • Staffordshire
Here’s the show and how it goes on.

Exhibitors

Check out our exhibitor page for details on all our exhibitors for 2018. Wool@J13 brings you all manner of all things wool, celebrating the diversity within this one word. Whether you are a knitter, crocheter, dyer, needle felter, sock maker or just plain curious, we have notions & potions of all shapes, sizes and colours just waiting for you at Wool@J13 2018.

Our exhibitors will travel from Glasgow, Devon, Somerset, Hampshire, Shropshire, Birmingham, Litchfield, York, Milton Keynes, County Durham, Leeds …. all corners of the UK, to present their wares, to teach & to inspire you and to demonstrate their skills. They all love what they do and we invite you to share the love on the 12th & 13th May at Lower Drayton Farm, Penkridge, Staffordshire.

Sock Fashion Show

Necessity or accessory? What does what you wear on your feet say about you? How much do you know about what wool will do for you and your Edgar Allan Poes? What do you want your socks to do for you? Blend in, stand out, make a statement, be noticed? There’s a lot more to the not so humble sock than you might have thought. A pup in Oregon agrees. He ate 43 of them.

Wool@J13 invites you to conquer your Sock Stock. Our Sock Fashion Show aims to answer all & more of the above. Taking place on Sunday 13th May (time tbc), we present individuality & bravura with a touch of wit & charisma and more than a smile – a superb and maybe slightly quirky collection of socks both great and small, for men and for women both great and small, created by people with a passion.

This is the place to see how some of our exhibitors’ independently dyed yarn knits up into socks. If you’ve ever valued your feet, this is the place to be on Sunday May 13th. To see, to be, to have and to hold. For a few minutes or maybe forever. All socks on show will be available for sale.

All About Hats

Hat Exhibition, Hat Making Masterclasses & Wear Yours in Public

Welcome to a world of what’s on your head, how you make it & how you show it with Wool@J13. Proud to support Brain Tumour Research.

We are inviting you, the public to submit your hand made hats to our 2018 Hat Exhibition, using any textile art form of your choice and taking your inspiration from any era or cultural form. All hats entered will be displayed at the show on the weekend of 12th & 13th May, 2018. Raring to go? Want to know more, including how to enter? See link below.

Want to make a hat but don’t know how? We are running a weekend Hat Making Masterclass in March 2018 at Lower Drayton Farm, Staffordshire to help you learn how.

Wear your hat in public in Stafford town centre with Wool@J13 (or wherever you are) for Brain Tumour Research’s UK wide Wear A Hat Day fundraiser. Be proud, be out there & be active. And help this superb charity get closer to a cure.

Workshops

We are back with another super show and another stimulating programme of workshops & demonstrations for you all.

This year, you can learn all sorts of new skills and develop your already learned ones. There’ll be no more throwing out when you discover holes in your clothes, because this year you can learn to mend with our Darn It! and Holey Darnation! workshops on both days of the show.

And how about making a mini guinea pig, creating your own knit/crochet accessories or notions or buttoning up smartly with a Dorset button of your own devising and, guess what, you can Go Big or Go Home with Giant Yarn Arm Knitting right here in Staffordshire at Wool@J13!

Fleece Sale

Returning in 2018

Do you have a fleece which you want to sell or do you simply want to buy one ? You may not know one end of a sheep from the other, but worry not. We have our resident expert, Karen Griffiths of The Woolly Roadshow on hand to help guide both buyers and sellers, plus a team from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust & Staffordshire Spinning Group.
Karen is a smallholder, spinner and woollen mill owner with a passion for education which means that she’s very happy indeed to share her knowledge of all things fleece. After all, those fleeces have to come from somewhere and knowing from where and from which breed of sheep will all add to your own book of knowledge.

Karen will have a fleece on hand to show you how to identify different parts of the fleece and grading it for quality, a fact which is especially important for spinners.

Sheep Shearing

Returning in 2018

Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep’s wool is called a shearer and Lower Drayton Farm’s shearer will be demonstrating his skill in removing sheeps’ fleeces without cutting or marking the skin of the animal.

Stash Swap

Returning in 2018

Where do you keep your guilty pleasure? In the garage, under the sofa, behind the bed, boxed up in the shed? Wherever your wool stash is, you may want to renew it and we are giving you the chance to do just that.

The Stash Swop will run all weekend and you are invited to bring yours along and trade it in for fresh stock. We weigh it, you rummage and take away the equivalent in weight. Or not, if you can bear it….

Music & Camping

I Got Rhythm
London’s foremost close harmony trio, The Haywood Sisters, will be singing the swing of the 1940s and 1950s throughout the weekend. Put your feet up on a hay bale with a glass of Tipsy Mare tonic and enjoy!Camping
Under canvas or in your caravan to bring you closer & quicker to the action. Just a field away at the farm. Check out more details on our Information page

Street Food

The Peckish Pony – Street Food Down on the Farm
An inspired cuisine awaits you at The Peckish Pony with our Street Food from around the world. Bored with sandwiches? You bet! You might be in Penkridge, but we’re going to transport you to a torrid and tastier experience than you may ever have had before.
We have oodles of noodles for you, a smile of spices, battered bhajis (in a good way), burrito wraps buried in a Jamaican melody. Oh, your taste buds will love you. Especially if you’re vegan, cos we’ve taken care of you, too.

The extraordinary nosh ‘n’ natter from these extraordinary street food vendors is all sourced as locally as possible and, eco aware, their packaging is made from, among other sustainable gubbins, plant based materials; portion pots & glasses are also very likely to be compostable.
Watch this space, guys, and don’t miss what is going to be a show with a kick and one to savour in your memory.